Eternally Wicked
by Perhapsormaybe
Summary: A mistake on Paradox's part returns Kevin to not only a life of crime, but his old sociopathic tendencies. Caught between needing to stop a villain but knowing that it's not his fault, how will Ben take him down? Ben/Kevin Bevin
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: **I wrote this months ago. At least, this first chapter. It's been sitting on my computer while I tried to figure out why I was torn between posting and not posting. It is based off of clichés, which I hate, and originally this was going to be Gwevin…but I reread it and it was just begging to be used as a dark Bevin fanfic instead, and since I almost always write Gwevin and while it's never fluffy, it always stays on the lighter side (and this is not as big of a cliché in the Bevin fandom anyways), I decided to go ahead with it. This will be going to dark places. I'm not entirely sure what I'm going to end up doing, but I will try my damndest to keep it in character. Thanks for reading.

Ben didn't bother to sneak in. Some part of him even hoped the sound of the door closing would rouse his parents from their sleep. No such luck. Sighing, he kicked off his shoes and made the way to his bedroom, his mind refusing to let the night's events slip from him.

And that, of course, was the problem.

Gwen hadn't wanted to talk about it. She'd made her way home using her powers, promising she would call tomorrow, she just needed time to digest everything. Ben had chosen Jetray's form and flown home.

_It doesn't make sense…_Ben thought as he peeled off his clothes, swapping them for a night shirt.

_Sure you're not just telling yourself that? _His more skeptic side asked.

_He'd changed._

The skeptical side of Ben laughed inside his head. It rang unpleasantly there before taunting him again. _Changed, huh? This isn't like the time with the holoviewer. He took a shot at you. He didn't stop when Gwen started bleeding. The only thing that stopped him was that alien trader…the one he ran off with. _

"But it's Kevin," Ben made this argument out loud. "Yeah, he was a bad guy, but he'd changed. There's no way he could have gone bad again, not without some sort of reason…"

"Of course there's a reason." Ben jumped and turned to face Professor Paradox, who was sitting on Ben's bed.

Ben groaned.

"Not happy to see me, Ben?"

"Sorry, Paradox, but every time you show up…well, the world's in enormous trouble," Ben said, shrugging. "And I'm not sure how my parents are going to respond to a middle aged man on my bed in the middle of the night…"

"Noted, noted," Paradox said with a wave of his hand. "But this isn't about your parents…technically it's not about you either, only it is." He noted Ben's puzzled expression, but he did not elaborate on just how it could both not involve and involve Ben. "I have made a very great mistake."

"Uh…well…what can I do to help?" Ben asked, figuring that maybe a fight would at least let him think of something, anything, other than what had happened tonight. No such luck.

"There's not anything. I've come to see you to explain that your friend Kevin might snap…"

"But why?" Ben interrupted. "I mean, yeah, he could still be a bit of a jerk, but he was helping us. He'd changed. I didn't think he'd do something like this…"

Paradox nodded. "Of course he wouldn't."

Ben furrowed both eyebrows, trying to make sense of what Paradox was saying. "I don't follow you," Ben admitted.

"Well, genius though I am," Paradox said, rubbing his chin, "Even I make mistakes. And unfortunately, the ones I can't fix are often the gravest of all…"

"What kind of mistakes _haven't _you fixed?"

"Oh, there's thousands, millions probably, of documented cases for things I could not prevent, for various reasons of course…" Paradox frowned, ticking them off, one finger at a time, "The holocaust…Pearl Harbor…Twin Towers….these are the ones you'd be most familiar with, at any rate."

"You tried to fix those?"

"More than once. But there are some parts of history that must remain concrete. I learned that the hard way. Every time I moved to take out a dictator, I'd find that another one would spring up - same ideals, same theories, the only differences would be the names. Or sometimes, an even worse catastrophe would happen…not that any of those weren't horrible to begin with."

"But what does this have to do with Kevin? …Is …is he supposed to be evil?"

Paradox shook his head. "The problem is all my fault, I'm afraid. When you helped me…how long ago was it? The issue with my assistant, Hugo, I mean? To me it seems like around a thousand years….but of course, it may have been a few days ago…"

"That was a few months ago," Ben corrected him.

"Months, then, at least from your perspective," Paradox amended, "Though I have to admit, that part of the story is the least important. When Kevin hit Hugo - as a space time anomaly - and it aged him…Do you know how I fixed him?"

"No."

"Well, I had to go back to a moment in time from that year of his life span, and I needed a point at which no one would see me take him…"

"…You took him from before he came to our side." It was not a question, though Paradox nodded anyways. "But…but why would he still help us?"

"The jump to that moment in time allowed him to gain the memories of the, for lack of better term, 'old' Kevin."

"But he agreed to help us because of his dad…shouldn't that have stayed?"

Paradox nodded. "That was what I was counting on. But time travel is very tricky, and…I'm afraid the journey shook his mind. I mentioned to you that for a while I myself went mad from it. It took a while to come to fruition…but every time he's come into contact with some event I set in motion, he lost a bit more of his sanity…Every time he drove his car after I fixed it, it set the process further along in motion. The final straw was not long after the defeat of the Highbreed."

"You could change him back, right?" Ben insisted. "I mean…what if you just went back and stopped yourself from taking Kevin back through time? Wouldn't that force him back to normal?"

Paradox shook his head and stood, placing a hand on Ben's shoulder. "No…all that would do is remove Kevin from helping you to help Hugo, leaving him as an anomaly…without that mistake fixed…the world would be destroyed."

"Did you know that this would happen?"

"I…suspected," Paradox admitted, moving his hand from Ben's shoulder. "Azmuth and I had discussed the possibility, but it seemed so unlikely…"

"But it happened!"

"Yes…yes it did," Paradox admitted.

"So, what do I do about it?"

"That, I'm afraid…" Paradox pulled out his pocket watch. "Is up to you." With that, he disappeared, leaving more questions than answers behind.

Ben would wrestle with these questions for the rest of the night, never coming up victorious, never coming up with an answer. He could hear Kevin's voice in his ear, taunting. _"Come on, Tennyson…I'm right here. You know where I live. You know where I'd be right now…come take a shot."_.

**Author's Note: **Like I said, dark, dark places. And I'm really looking forward to writing it.


	2. Reminder

**Author's note: **I knew this was going to get dark, but after plotting everything out in my head, I realized just how dark we're talking. I don't think it needs a mature rating or anything, but we're talking you're gonna need night vision goggles down here. Not just yet, but soon. This chapter is also how I explain Gwevin away in favor of Bevin. It's dark. I still love Gwen, but I'm freaking mean as hell to her in this. I'm sorry, Gwen!

"Gwen?" Ben pushed the door of his cousin's room open before she replied. She was sitting at her window, staring outside, cradling her injured arm in the uninjured one. "Gwen?" he repeated, sure she hadn't heard him.

"…Tell me that wasn't him."

"Wasn't him that…" Ben trailed off when Gwen pointed to her arm. It had been bleeding last night, but he hadn't thought much of the wound other than his shock that Kevin had delivered the blow. In the light of day, it was much more obvious. The cut was long and jagged, and it looked blue around the edges. "Oh. That …did that."

"Yes. That did this," Gwen said, studying her arm. "I think there's some sort of poison in it. I was going to see Grandpa Max today to figure out what's going on."

"Just with the poison, or with Kevin?" Ben asked. Gwen didn't respond. He pressed on. "Because I already know what made him snap."

He launched quickly into a summary of what Paradox had told him last night. Gwen listened intently, frowning, her face scrunched up in concentration. "..Does that mean there's no way to get Kevin back?"

"I'm not sure," Ben admitted. "Paradox and Azmuth don't know, and they're two of the smartest people in the universe…well, Paradox is one of the smartest people, I guess Azmuth is one of the smartest aliens," he paused at the irritated look on Gwen's face. "Right…not the point. I don't know. But we'll do whatever we can, Gwen, I swear. We're going to get him back…no matter how long it takes."

* * *

"Heard you were back on our side…didn't think it was true, though. Guess I have to forgive Argit part of that debt he owes me…" an alien man who was about seven feet tall with glowing red eyes and tentacles that occasionally whipped out from beneath his trench coat said to Kevin.

"Don't care," Kevin said, studying the picture of Ben on the wall. It was a reward poster. "How much are they offering for Tennyson?"

"You willing to go after him? Thought he was your teammate…"

"Ain't what I asked," Kevin said steadily. "How much is the reward?"

The man laughed heartily. "Same old Kevin Elevin…it's substantial. Dead he's worth millions of credits, alive he's worth even more. I heard you stopped betraying people, you'd gone completely goody two-shoes on us. What happened?"

"Dunno," Kevin said softly. "Not the point. Tennyson trapped me in the Null Void. I think it's time to settle the score."

"And the girl? She's got quite a reward on her, too…"

"I'll deliver Tennyson to them alive. Gwen," Kevin looked to the left of Ben's poster and finally noticed the picture of the Anodite, "Her I'll deliver under the 'dead' option…"

* * *

"There's more to this," Paradox had decided to visit Gwen and Ben at their grandfather's R.V., Rustbucktet 3. "I'm afraid everything's going to get a lot worse. Especially for you, Gwen."

"For Gwen? What?" Cooper interjected. He was supposed to be out training with Helen, Manny, Pierce and Alan, and had indeed been on his way out, but when he'd overheard Gwen was in trouble, he couldn't resist stopping to ask questions.

"Cooper," Max said, his voice even, "I need you to go train."

"But if Gwen's in trouble--"

"Now, Cooper," Max ordered. Cooper agreed, finally going outside, but making sure his irritation was noted by slamming the door a little too hard.

"That was kind of harsh," Ben noted.

"We need to hear what's going on and be able to think rationally," Max explained, "If he knows Gwen's in trouble he's likely not to use his head. Now, Professor, if you would explain to me what's going on?"

"Yes, well," Paradox continued, "I already explained to all of you about why Kevin's regressed. So, what I have to explain now…he'll set out to destroy anything he cared about."

"Like…his car?" Ben suggested, praying Paradox only meant physical possessions.

"His car never elicited any human attachment. Gwen, I believe you know how he felt about you?" Gwen nodded, and started to say something, but Paradox held his hand up to stop her. "The bond between you is something that will turn to hatred. The stronger he felt about you, the more likely he'll want to see you dead."

"What?" Ben stood up. "Why would he go that far?"

"I told you, Ben. The journey through time shook his mind, and now that it's come to its complete fruition, it will drive him mad. He will see Gwen as a sign of his human weakness, and he will come after her with the intent to kill."

"What about Ben?" Gwen asked softly.

"What about me?" Ben asked.

"You're his best friend. That's got to mean something to him as well."

"Yes," Paradox rubbed his chin, "It will. It won't be quite so violent, though. But don't be surprised if he comes after you before her. He may not want to kill you, but he will want revenge for what he perceives as your betrayal."

"Still thinks it's my fault he got stuck in the Null Void?"

"No….he thinks that you should have been the one to save him from losing his mind."

* * *

"Gwen, I think you should stay with Grandpa and the others for a while," Ben suggested, checking his watch. He needed to be home in about ten minutes.

"No way. Kevin's going to be after you, too. If I stay, so should you."

Ben sighed. "He's not going to try to kill me, Gwen. …Well, he might, but Paradox said it's pretty much guaranteed that he'll try to kill you. I'm not in as much danger as you are."

"I don't care," Gwen insisted. "I'm not letting you face him by yourself."

"Fine…at least call Uncle Frank and tell him that you'll be staying over at my house. We'll set up the guest room and I'll explain to mom and dad that you need to stay over for the next week or so."

Gwen hesitated. "And you won't use that as an opportunity to try to lock me in a room or something to keep me from helping you?"

"Hadn't even crossed my mind. Just think of it as a compromise. Okay?"

"Deal."

**Author's Note: **Like I said….being really mean to Gwen. I hadn't intended to do this when I started the story out. It just sort of ended up this way. I needed a way for Gwen not to be in the way of the Bevin and I wanted it to feel right in this story, and this was what I thought of. I'm mean.


	3. Gravity

**Author's Note: **So, this is Bevin. Yes. It's going to take a while to build up to that point though. I don't believe in rushing things. And the way I've chosen to deal with Gwevin is…really harsh and has become more central to the story than I'd anticipated. Yes, Gwen's in here a lot. Trust me, though, this will not be Gwevin. Yes, Gwen's still in love with Kevin in this story, but his feelings for her are not coming back. I swear, Bevin's coming up. It's just going to take a few chapters to get there. Sorry! …Gwen's going to have a very rough time in this story.

Kevin watched Ben closely as the younger boy departed from the Rustbucket 3. Still no signs of Gwen, no matter how desperately he looked.

Something inside of him kept insisting that the minute he saw her dead, a weight would be lifted. He'd feel normal again. His memories conflicted with the feeling, but his mind was so utterly shaken that he was inclined to believe the feelings instead.

Kevin was in his car, every possible alien tech he had in it switched on so that Ben wouldn't notice him, right down to a cloaking device. Yet he still felt that Ben was turning around far too often in his walk. Either he was being cautious, or he knew Kevin was there.

This had been going on for weeks now. As enraged as Kevin was, as much as he wanted to see Ben suffer, too, the fact that it was only Ben he ever saw seemed to afford him a little bit of sanity. He could think clearly enough to know that this wasn't what he wanted, but he still couldn't stop himself.

And he also knew that if he ever saw Gwen with Ben, he would lose any sense of control. He'd try to kill them both.

The tiny corner of his mind was relieved. Gwen could be safe, so long as she stayed hidden from him. But it was also worried, and rightly so. He knew Gwen well enough to know she wouldn't stay away forever. Ben wouldn't be spared either, as he'd come running to his cousin's aid as quickly as he possibly could.

Finally, Ben stopped in the middle of the road, staring precisely at where Kevin sat, cloaked. "You're there, aren't you?" He called out. Kevin didn't respond. He waited to see what Ben would do next.

Ben grabbed a rock from the side of the road, throwing it directly at Kevin's car. It hit the windshield and bounced off.

"Kevin, I know that's you!" Ben insisted. "You're found out so you may as well talk to me."

"Why should I just talk, Tennyson?" Kevin asked as he stepped out of the car, disabling the cloaking device as he went.

"I wasn't expecting you to actually get out of the car," Ben admitted. "What are you following me around for?"

"Where's your cousin?"

"Not where you'll find her," Ben's eyes narrowed. "Leave her alone."

Kevin smirked. "I doubt she'll leave me alone much longer, Benji.."

"Haven't called me _that_ in a long time.."

Kevin ignored the interruption. "How much time do you give it before Gwen starts to miss me too much and comes to me on her own?"

Ben stared at Kevin, horrified. "You...You'd really kill her. Just like that? What about..."

"Don't even start with that feelings junk," Kevin snapped. "I know how I used to feel. The knowledge is there," he pointed at his head, "But nothing else is. The way things felt is gone, and ....I have to get rid of her."

"I'm not going to let you do that, Kevin."

"You really think you can stop me?" Kevin crossed his arms, amused. "You'd hurt me knowing that it's Paradox's fault I'm like this?"

"How did you know that Paradox--"

"I've got connections. Unfortunately none of them have the talent to locate Gwen for me. Lemme guess...Cooper's helping out?" Ben refused to answer. "I don't have to ask, Ben, I _know_."

Ben closed the gap between them. "If you know that this isn't your fault, that it's just some weird accident...why are you still acting on the emotions?" Ben demanded. "Why not leave Gwen alone since you know this isn't how you really feel?"

"That ship's already sunk," Kevin shrugged. "I tried at first. That's why I paused for so long in the fight, trying to sort my head out...in a way, I have you to thank. You yelling at me to help made me make my decision..."

"That was when you grabbed the crossbow and shot at Gwen..."

"Yes."

"So why haven't you attacked me yet? We're out in the open. It's always been your style to brawl..."

"I don't know," Kevin admitted. "I still want to pound you for everything you've done to me, but I don't want you dead as badly as her..."

Ben started to rotate the face of his omnitrix. "I'm not letting you get her, Kevin..."

"Not looking for a fight today," Kevin insisted, getting back into his car. He rolled the window down. "I'm going to be watching, Ben. Sooner or later, she has to come out. I will find her, and I will kill her. .....Then I'm coming after you."

* * *

"What are you hiding from me?" Gwen demanded. Before Ben could ask, she explained. "You've been avoiding eye contact with me all day and you just mumble responses and your left eye is twitching like crazy. Now...what are you hiding from me?"

"..nothing." The slight hesitation was enough.

"You talked to Kevin."

"No, I!" Ben looked at Gwen's expression, and shook his head. "You got all that from me saying 'nothing'?"

"You're no good at hiding anything, Ben. What happened?"

"He was completely different. Not just from how he was when he was...when he was on our side," Ben was reluctant to reveal everything, knowing how it would affect Gwen, but he hoped that giving her some explanation would keep her from seeking Kevin out. "He didn't try to attack me, but I got the feeling that he wanted to, he's just....waiting for something."

He couldn't tell her that 'something' was her death. He grimaced at the thought, but she was too busy digesting what he'd just told her to notice.

Gwen, for her part, was dissecting everything Ben had just said, the gears in her head whirring nonstop as she tried to rationalize it all.

Gwen was a smart girl. She knew that Kevin was looking to kill her.

But she was also still in love with him...and that was what was going to lead her into danger.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gwen paused and held her breath, hoping that the question wasn't directed at her. A blur came rushing towards her, and suddenly Helen was standing directly in her path. "Gwen, we don't know what's going on, but we were told to make sure you didn't go see Kevin..."

"I'm not going to see him," Gwen lied.

"Then you won't mind if we come with you," Manny, Cooper and Alan had all joined Helen.

"I'm sure you guys have better things to do."

"Gwen...don't go to see him," Cooper pleaded. "I know he's the one that did that to you," he was looking at the section of her arm where she was wounded. She instinctively tugged her sleeve down, even though the wound was hidden underneath her sweater. "How can you trust him after that?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you," She hissed, then softened at Cooper's hurt expression. "I appreciate that you guys are trying to help, but I can handle myself. Really."

"We're still coming with you," Alan insisted.

"I'm sorry," Gwen said, the manna gathering around her hand. She threw a forcefield around them, and took off running.

It took them a few minutes of pounding heavily at the shield, but it eventually broke. "She couldn't have gotten far," Manny insisted, "We can go after her -"

"No, we can't," Helen disagreed. "We have no idea where Kevin is, which means..."

"We have no idea where she went." Cooper finished.

* * *

Kevin was pacing around his living room, waiting. He wasn't sure what he was waiting for, but after two weeks of trying to find Gwen he'd given up his search. At least, for the moment.

He paused when the door bell rang, wondering who it would be. The only people who had ever come over were Ben and Gwen...

He smirked. Of course. She'd finally come, just like he knew she would.

Kevin didn't bother with checking the peep hole. He threw the front door open. As predicted, Gwen was there, looking uneasy but also...hopeful, he realized.

He leaned back against the door frame, studying her. "You know what's going to happen if you come inside, right?"

Gwen said nothing, just pushed past him and entered. Kevin grabbed a nearby metal table and allowed the material to coat his skin. Gwen's hands and eyes were glowing with her manna. As Kevin ran towards her, meaning to go straight for her throat, he felt something collide with his back. A warm sort of energy that chipped his metal plating where it had hit.

He turned around. He'd left the door open, and now standing in the frame was Ben in his Jetray form.

"I thought I asked you not to go out without me," Jetray addressed Gwen.

"As I told the body guards you got me, I can take care of myself!"

"Then why don't you even have a shield up to defend yourself?"

"Are you two here to argue with each other or to fight me?" Kevin interrupted.

"Gwen, get out of here," Ben insisted. She ignored him. "Kevin, I'm going to be the one to fight you."

"I don't remember agreeing to that," Kevin said, attempting to make another run at Gwen.

Again, Ben fired a blast of energy at the older boy, knocking him into the couch. While he was distracted, Ben made his way to where Gwen was standing. "We have to get out of here, right now."

"But---" Gwen saw that Kevin was pushing himself back up, holding his aching head, and nodded. "You're right." He picked her up and blasted a hole in the roof, flying off before Kevin had fully recovered from his blow.

"Another reason to get them.....who do you expect is going to fix that roof?!" Kevin called after them.

* * *

"Gwen, do you know how stupid that was?" Ben said later, when they were back inside his house.

"Yes," she admitted. "I knew the whole time, but I couldn't stop myself. I'm sorry, Ben....are you all right?"

"Yeah, I didn't get hurt."

"Not what I meant."

"huh?"

"When you were fighting Kevin....I've never seen you take it so easy on someone."

Ben crossed his arms and looked away. "I was just making sure you didn't get hit by Jetray's blasts, too. It's a lot harder to fight inside of a house."

"Ben, that's not true and you know it," Gwen accused. "I think....you don't want to fight Kevin any more than I do, do you?"

"Of course not. He's our friend. But we still have to."

"I know that. But...do you think we'll be able to?"

Ben paused a moment, before solemnly nodding. "I'm going to bed," He announced, heading out of her room and shutting the door behind him. He slid down against it, thinking everything over. He didn't have the energy to make it to his own room. He would wind up sitting there until dawn, the same thought running through his head over and over again.

He'd just lied to Gwen. On no level had he convinced himself that he'd be able to fight Kevin.


	4. Domination

**Author's note: **Wow. Sorry it took me so long to start writing again. I had a …situation that involved a favorite family member of mine, and in a strange way that I'd prefer not to explain, part of what happened mirrored the part of this story. It made it very hard to work on this, and as a result I stopped working on all my fanfics. I'm hoping this is still good. The Bevin starts this chapter, but it may seem a little weird at first. Ready? Let's go.

There was tension between the Tennyson cousins. They were holding a forced silence, refusing to say Kevin's name, avoiding any mention of him.

But still, he was invading both of their thoughts, and it showed through.

Carl and Sandra Tennyson knew something was wrong, knew it involved Ben's 'ruffian' friend, but neither Gwen nor Ben was willing to give them details. Julie had stopped coming by, having completely given up on lifting their moods. They'd refused to listen to her constant cheerleading about how they'd get Kevin back.

Finally, one late night found Gwen in the livingroom, staring blankly at the tv. The cable box had turned into sleeper mode, an icon bouncing around idly onscreen. Wordlessly, Ben sat on the couch beside her and rested a hand on her shoulder.

"We can't keep doing this," Gwen said finally. "This isn't like us. ...We have to go after him. It hurts, but if Kevin's as bad as he used to be, who knows how many people he's going to...." She couldn't finish. The idea of Kevin actually murdering someone was too upsetting.

Ben coughed awkwardly. "I've...I've been going after him," He admitted. "I'm sorry I left you out, but you put yourself in danger last time, and Kevin wants you...hurt...most of all."

"He doesn't want me hurt, he wants me dead. There's a bit of a difference," she said bitterly. "You need to let me fight my own fight."

"No."

Gwen glared. "What?"

"I already lost him, I'm not losing you, too," he pushed himself off the couch. Gwen did the same, her hands going to her hips.

"You do not get to boss me around, Ben. We are teammates, on equal level. Your omnitrix does not make you the leader."

"Gwen, you're the smart one," Ben said, crossing his arms, "But you're being stupid about this. Kevin wants you dead, and Paradox specifically said he'll come after you the hardest. We know he's been trying to find you, staking out the house hoping you'll come out. As it is the only thing stopping him is that shield grandpa rigged so that no one without the password can get in the house."

Gwen sighed. "I know. I know it's dumb, all right? I'm not so stupid that I think he'll come back to me if I just give him the 'I know you're in there somewhere' speech. But I'm having a hard time dealing with it. And everyone making me stay in the house isn't helping. I can't spend my whole days just reading books and pretending nothing's wrong. I should be out there helping you guys, not letting you save me."

"Consider it pay back for all the times you've helped or saved me," Ben said with a small smile. "Please, Gwen. You're family. You and Kevin are the closest....were the closest friends I had. You still are. Besides, I think we can get Kevin back, but that's not going to help if he kills you first."

Gwen flopped back down into the couch. "Fine, Ben, I understand. I won't go back after Kevin. But I need you to go to my house to pick up my spellbooks. Maybe I can find something to help."

Ben nodded. "All right. That much I can do."

* * *

"Score! There they are!" Ben exclaimed, leaning under Gwen's bed and retrieving her books. He flipped through one, and shook his head. "Man, these things make my head hurt..."

"And here I thought Gwen would be here,"

Ben got up without looking and bonked his head on the dresser. "Oww..."

"Sheesh, I should just let the furniture beat you up, Tennyson," Ben glared at Kevin, but sat down on the bed, trying to fake Kevin out into thinking that he just wasn't enough of a threat for Ben to worry over.

"What are you doing here, Kevin?"

"Saw a light in Gwen's room, figured it would be her. Obviously I was wrong. Too bad. It'd be much easier than cracking that shield your gramps set up....but I'm working on that method, too. It should take about...3 more days. He picked a pretty long code to make it difficult, but I've got more than enough connections to make up for that."

"So why are you still here? You going to kill me now?" Ben's eyes narrowed and his hand started to reach for the omnitrix.

"What do I have to bribe you with?" Kevin asked, picking up a small jewelry box off Gwen's table. He passed it from one hand to another. "I get it, she's your blood, but ain't I your best friend, Benji? Who's more important to you?"

"Let's see...the one who never tried to kill me."

"Aww, the past is the past. You've got to learn to let it go."

"It's not really the past anymore."

Kevin chuckled. "All right, good point, but I ain't trying to kill you right now, and I didn't try to kill you last time. Do you know why that is?"

"Because you know you'd lose," Ben insisted.

Kevin crossed the room towards Ben and pushed him against the wall. His hands clutched Ben's wrists with such force it nearly cut off circulation. His arms were starting to tingle, as though they were about to fall asleep. "Really? I'd lose? So explain this situation to me, then."

"Kevin, please..."

"What, you going to beg?"

"No. You've always been a jerk, but I thought it was getting a little bit better. I bet you're making your real father _real_ proud," Ben hissed.

Kevin's grip tightened. "You don't know anything about my real father, Tennyson. Don't pretend you do."

"So now what? Going to kill me?"

"That'll come later," Kevin promised, leaning in so closely Ben could feel his breath on his skin. It made his skin crawl, and for some reason a blush rise to his cheeks. Kevin noticed.

"What? You enjoying this, Ben?"

"Not at all," Ben lied.

"Maybe you'll like this better," Kevin suggested, setting his mouth on Ben's. His tongue slipped into Ben's mouth, and Ben fought the instinct to return it. Kevin released Ben a moment later. "I'll see you, Benji. You're lucky it's just you I keep running into. If you keep it that way, maybe I won't kill you. Still gonna kill Gwen, though. I dare you to stop me. Cause the only way you're going to do it is by killing me. And that goes against your little hero code, don't it, Tennyson?" With that, Kevin was gone again.

Ben collapsed onto his knees, his mind playing what had just happened over and over again. That kiss was not out of love. It was meant to make him feel ashamed, to embarrass him, to dominate him.

And Ben hated himself for liking it.


	5. Payment

**Author's note: **Please know that because I think Kevin will be back to normal within the show soon, this will reference his 2nd transformation, but he's in his normal human form. Okay? Not a mutant.

"She's been going out? Why?" Ben demanded. Manny crossed both sets of arms.

"Because, man, you got her locked up in your house for days. She got bored. Wouldn't you?" Ben didn't answer him. "Besides, she's not going after Kevin. Gwen knows that's a bad idea. She's just helping the team out with missions. Simple ones we don't think Kevin's behind."

"But he could figure it out. He could be waiting at any one of those missions! I told you guys, it was only two days ago that he said he's three days from cracking Grandpa's code-"

"Which is why we changed it and reinforced it," Cooper reminded him. "And Gwen's smart, she's stayed away from any missions that have any links to Kevin. When we fought Argit a week ago she didn't come for that reason."

Ben rubbed his temple.

"If you're worried about her, go talk to her," Helen said, placing a hand on Ben's shoulder. "You won't even look her in the eye since the last time you ran into Kevin. I get that you feel guilty that you didn't get him then, but…"

Ben let out a hollow laugh. He hadn't bothered to make a cover story. They'd all just assumed he was jumpy around Gwen because he'd failed to stop the guy who wanted to kill her.

None suspected for even a moment that it was because Kevin had kissed him. And he certainly wasn't about to tell them.

He sighed. "Fine. Just keep doing it how you are, but I want an alert any time Gwen goes with you, just to be on the safe side. Send out a message to me using your badges from now on, and let me know exactly where you're going to be."

"Do we let Gwen know?" Pierce asked.

Ben shrugged. "Knowing Gwen, she'll understand why we're doing it. She might be annoyed with it, but she'll allow you to do it. I'm going to go look for leads."

That was what Ben kept calling it. Looking for leads was code for him going out to the scummiest places imaginable, hoping to run into Kevin. He had been avoiding this fight, trying to put it off…until that kiss. Now it seemed imperative that he find Kevin and sort everything out.

* * *

Distance always allowed Kevin to regain just a bit of his sanity. Enough to know that what he was doing was wrong, enough to know that it wasn't who he normally was. Not enough to stop him, to make him go back.

That was why he was staring absentmindedly at the wall of Argit's latest hangout – just a little lean-to on the river front. It had been crowded up until Argit's latest arrest, but it was comfortable for one person. Which was probably why Kevin hadn't bothered with fulfilling his promise to bust Argit out.

His thoughts now were on Ben. He knew, of course, why he'd kissed him. He hadn't loved Ben. It was Gwen he'd always thought of in that way. But that kiss hadn't been out of love.

It had served its purpose. Ben had collapsed to the floor and let Kevin escape, either too embarrassed or overwhelmed to go after him. There had been no need to exchange blows. A kiss can be a more powerful weapon than any gun, if used the right way…or even the wrong way, as this case proved.

Still, Kevin felt a pang of guilt about it. It wasn't fair for him to upset Ben that way. He'd been his best friend…

"Some best friend," Kevin snorted, talking to himself. "What has he done to help since I went crazy…Nothing but come after me and try to fight me. You'd think a buddy would want to talk it over at least…"

Kevin could acknowledge how strange his logic was, how incredibly lacking it was, but he still could not admit that he was wrong. In his own mind, this was Ben's fault. Just like back when he became a monster. Both times. If he hadn't ever gotten involved with Tennyson, hadn't tried to help him….

He bit his lip, gnawing at it until it turned red and raw. His thoughts whirled, a fierce debate going on in his head.

A new idea was forming.

He still wanted Gwen dead. He knew that much. But didn't Ben Tennyson owe him something after changing him into a monster? After throwing him into the null void? For all the times Kevin had saved his sorry ass?

Kevin could taste his own blood, but he ignored it. His only thought now was that Ben owed him. And the price Kevin wanted was Ben himself.

* * *

"Gwen? Are you all right?" Cooper asked, sliding into the table across from her. Gwen smiled.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Thanks for asking..."

"I know you're lying. I know you're not fine...I wouldn't be either. You're really strong to go through all of this, you know? I'm glad you keep fighting with us. I guess it's got to be hard to fight your boyfriend, but..."

"He wasn't my boyfriend, Coop."

The glimmer of hope in his eyes was unmistakeable. "So then, you two were only friends?"

Gwen blinked, and shook her head. "No. No, we were more than that. We went on dates, but we just never got to the girlfriend boyfriend stage," she looked at Cooper, studying him. "Oh. I...Cooper, you're sweet. Really. But I'm not ready to move on right now. I'm not even sure I'm ready to give up on Kevin yet. ...Can you understand that?"

"No," Cooper admitted. "But it's for you, so...I'll do what I can to help. We'll get him back to the good side, I promise. But, Gwen?"

"Yeah?"

"If we get him back, and things don't work out...I'll always be waiting for you."

"I hope that isn't true, Cooper," Gwen said, reaching out and patting his hand. "You should get on with your life. Find a girl who shares your interests. You shouldn't wait around for a girl ...." she almost said 'for a girl like me', but she knew Cooper would vehemently disagree with her telling him that he was too good for her. Instead she ended the sentence and then shrugged.

"All right," Cooper looked defeated, but hopped up from his seat, "But I don't think I'll give up on you Gwen. Ever." With that, he left. Gwen sat by herself for a minute, contemplating. Finally, she sighed.

"I wish you would, Cooper. Maybe if you get over me, you can tell me how I can get over Kevin..."

**Author's Note**: I'm not a fan of Cooper/Gwen. I don't know why. I just don't like it. And the parallel at the end between Kevin/Gwen and Cooper/Gwen is that I believe both are just sort of juvenile infatuations. Yes, I write Gwevin, but the series as a whole disappoints me with the way they write it. Yeah. That's my two cents. Take it or leave it, or throw flames at me because of it.


End file.
